NOTE: Contact your local office to discuss your specific project. Applications for this program are accepted year round.

What does this program do?

This program provides affordable funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. An essential community facility is defined as a facility that provides an essential service to the local community for the orderly development of the community in a primarily rural area, and does not include private, commercial or business undertakings.

What is an eligible area?

Rural areas including cities, villages, townships and towns including Federally Recognized Tribal Lands with no more than 20,000 residents according to the latest U.S. Census Data are eligible for this program.

How may funds be used?

Funds can be used to purchase, construct, and / or improve essential community facilities, purchase equipment and pay related project expenses.

Examples of essential community facilities include:

• Health care facilities such as hospitals, medical clinics, dental clinics, nursing homes or assisted living facilities.
• Public facilities such as town halls, courthouses, airport hangars or street improvements.
• Community support services such as child care centers, community centers, fairgrounds or transitional housing.
• Public safety services such as fire departments, police stations, prisons, police vehicles, fire trucks, public works vehicles or equipment.
• Educational services such as museums, libraries or private schools.
• Utility services such as telemedicine or distance learning equipment.
• Local food systems such as community gardens, food pantries, community kitchens, food banks, food hubs or greenhouses.

Grant Approval

Applicant must be eligible for grant assistance, which is provided on a graduated scale with smaller communities with the lowest median household income being eligible for projects with a higher proportion of grant funds. Grant assistance is limited to the following percentages of eligible project costs:

Maximum of 75 percent when the proposed project is:

• Located in a rural community having a population of 5,000 or fewer; and
• The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 60 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income.

Maximum of 55 percent when the proposed project is:

• Located in a rural community having a population of 12,000 or fewer; and
• The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 70 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income.

Maximum of 35 percent when the proposed project is:

• Located in a rural community having a population of 20,000 or fewer; and
• The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 80 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income.

Maximum of 15 percent when the proposed project is:

• Located in a rural community having a population of 20,000 or fewer; and
• The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 90 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income. The proposed project must meet both percentage criteria. Grants are further limited.

NOTE: Access Grants applications are due 30 working days prior to the activity start.

Rasmuson Foundation Overview

Mission:

To promote a better life for Alaskans.

Primary program areas of interest:

Arts & culture, health, social services, housing, promotion of philanthropy

Grantmaking philosophy:

The Foundation acts as a catalyst for change; helps Alaskans help themselves; and embraces the diversity within Alaska.

Grantmaking goals:

Civic responsibility and individual philanthropy amongst Alaskans; economic possibilities for Alaskans; educational opportunity for Alaskans; healthy Alaska families; quality health care for Alaskans; strong leaders; vibrant arts and culture in Alaska.

Arts in Education

Research shows exceptional things happen when the arts become part of children’s lives. The arts play an important role in captivating young people and propelling them to higher levels of achievement and understanding.

Rasmuson Foundation initiated the Arts In Education program to expand the role of cultural institutions in making arts experiences available in schools and neighborhoods; to inspire collaborations between educators, artists and cultural institutions; to increase student access to a variety of high-quality arts and cultural experiences; and to encourage student participation in the arts.

Cultural Collaborations - Access Grants

Two grant programs for collaborative projects that enable schools, arts organizations, local arts agencies, artists, and other civic groups to establish, expand or enhance arts and cultural programs for young people.

• Access Grants – Grants up to $1,000 to support high-quality, short-term arts and cultural activities for grades K-12 at a school site during the school day.

What does this program do?

It provides loans and grants to Microenterprise Development Organizations (MDOs) to:

• To help microenterprises startup and growth through a Rural Microloan Revolving Fund.
• Provide training and technical assistance to microloan borrowers and micro entrepreneurs.

Microenterprise Development Organizations must demonstrate experience in managing a Revolving Loan Fund, or:

• Certify that it or its employees have received education and training from a qualified microenterprise development training entity so that the applicant has the capacity to manage such a revolving loan fund.
• Demonstrate that it is actively and successfully participating as an intermediary lender in good standing under the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Microloan Program or other similar loan programs as determined by the Administrator.

 What kind of funding is available?

• Grants are available to provide technical assistance to rural micro-entrepreneurs or microenterprises, up to $205,000 annually.
  • Funding at the requested level is not guaranteed, and at least 15 percent matching funds are required.
• Loans of $50,000 to $500,000 may be used for establishing a Rural Microloan Revolving Fund managed by the Microenterprise Development Organization.
  • Total aggregate debt is capped at $2.5 million.

What are the loan terms?

• Maximum term is 20 years.
• Two-year payment deferral.
• Must establish a loan loss reserve fund.

What terms are required on loans to ultimate recipients?

• Up to $50,000.
• Fixed interest rate.
• Limited to 75 percent of project cost.

How may the funds be used?

Microlenders may make microloans for qualified business activities and expenses including, but not limited to:

• Working capital.
• Debt refinancing.
• Purchasing equipment and supplies.
• Improving real estate.

NOTE: All applications are due by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. 

The Broadening Participation in Computing program (BPC) aims to significantly increase the number of U.S. citizens and permanent residents receiving post-secondary degrees in the computing disciplines, and to encourage participation of other underrepresented groups in the discipline. These groups may include women, persons with disabilities, Blacks and African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. With this solicitation, the BPC program seeks to engage the computing community to develop and implement innovative methods, frameworks, and strategies to improve recruitment and retention of these students through undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Projects that target stages of the academic pipeline through faculty ranks are encouraged. All BPC projects must have the potential for widespread, national impact. That is, they should either develop an effective practice that could be widely deployed, or they should deploy existing effective practices to reach larger audiences.

• Alliances are broad coalitions of academic institutions of higher learning,K-12 schools, government, industry, professional societies, and other not-for-profit organizations that design and carry out comprehensive programs addressing underrepresentation in the computing disciplines. They have a large regional or national scope. Alliances operate across multiple stages of the academic pipeline and address one or several intended groups that are underrepresented. Collectively, Alliances serve as a national resource for achieving the transformation of computing education.
• Existing Alliances with documented evidence of national impact on broadening participation in computing may apply for additional funding.An Alliance Extension increases the duration of the Alliance award as well as its scope, introducing additional student groups to be reached, partners, and/or projects with the intended purpose of significant impact to the populations served.

• Demonstration Projects (DPs)are more focused than Alliance projects. Typical DPs pilot innovative programs that, once fully developed, could be incorporated into the activities of an existing or new Alliance, or otherwise scaled up for widespread impact. Examples include projects proposed by a single institution or those that focus on a single underrepresented community, a single point in the academic pathway, or a single impediment to full participation in computing. Demonstration projects should contribute knowledge to our understanding of effective teaching and learning of computing for students from groups underrepresented in computing.
• Both Alliances and Demonstration Projects have significant evaluation efforts with both formative and summative components. Competitive projects will have significant impact both in the quality of opportunities afforded to participants and in the number of participants potentially served.

• Supplements to existing CISE research awards are intended to engage more members of the computing research community in significant BPC efforts as part of a project’s BPC plan.

The goal of NASA EPSCoR is to provide seed funding that will enable jurisdictions to develop an academic research enterprise directed toward long term, self-sustaining, nationally competitive capabilities in aerospace and aerospace-related research. This capability will, in turn, contribute to the jurisdiction's economic viability and expand the nation's base for aerospace research and development. Based on the availability of funding, NASA will continue to help jurisdictions achieve these goals through NASA EPSCoR. Funded jurisdictions’ proposals shall be selected through a merit based, peer-review competition and presented for review to a NASA HQ Mission Directorate Review Panel.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) determines overall jurisdiction eligibility for NASA EPSCoR. The latest available NSF eligibility tables are used to determine overall jurisdiction eligibility for NASA EPSCoR. The NSF 2023 eligibility table is available here.

The following jurisdictions are eligible to submit a proposal in response to this NOFO: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, US Virgin Islands, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

While proposals can be accepted only from institutions for which the NASA EPSCoR Directors are serving currently, all institutions of higher education within the jurisdiction shall be given the opportunity to propose by making them aware of this NOFO. Only one proposal per jurisdiction shall be accepted, which must be submitted by the NASA EPSCoR Jurisdiction Director (or their designee). 

NOTE: We have temporarily paused grantmaking. Until mid-2024, Tier 2 and PRI proposals that already have been received will be considered and decided on by December 2023. No new proposals will be accepted until mid-2024. Learn more here.

Rasmuson Foundation Overview

Mission:

To promote a better life for Alaskans.

Primary program areas of interest:

Arts & culture, health, social services, housing, promotion of philanthropy

Grantmaking philosophy:

The Foundation acts as a catalyst for change; helps Alaskans help themselves; and embraces the diversity within Alaska.

Grantmaking goals:

Civic responsibility and individual philanthropy amongst Alaskans; economic possibilities for Alaskans; educational opportunity for Alaskans; healthy Alaska families; quality health care for Alaskans; strong leaders; vibrant arts and culture in Alaska.

Arts in Education

Research shows exceptional things happen when the arts become part of children’s lives. The arts play an important role in captivating young people and propelling them to higher levels of achievement and understanding.

Rasmuson Foundation initiated the Arts In Education program to expand the role of cultural institutions in making arts experiences available in schools and neighborhoods; to inspire collaborations between educators, artists and cultural institutions; to increase student access to a variety of high-quality arts and cultural experiences; and to encourage student participation in the arts.

Cultural Collaborations - Access Grants

Two grant programs for collaborative projects that enable schools, arts organizations, local arts agencies, artists, and other civic groups to establish, expand or enhance arts and cultural programs for young people.

• Project Grants – Matching funds up to $6,000 to support high-quality, longer-term, experientially based arts and cultural projects or programs for youth outside the school day.

What does this program do?

This program is designed to provide technical assistance and training for small rural businesses. Small means that the business has fewer than 50 new workers and less than $1 million in gross revenue.

How much funding is available?

There is no maximum grant amount; however, smaller requests are given higher priority. There is no cost sharing requirement. There are two types of RBDG projects, Opportunity grants and Enterprise grants. Opportunity type grants are limited to up to 10 percent of the total Rural Business Development Grant annual funding. Enterprise type grants must be used on projects to benefit small and emerging businesses in rural areas as specified in the grant application.

How may Enterprise type funds be used?

• Training and technical assistance, such as project planning, business counseling/training, market research, feasibility studies, professional/technical reports, or product/service improvements
• Acquisition or development of land, easements, or rights of way; construction, conversion, renovation of buildings; plants, machinery, equipment, access for streets and roads; parking areas and utilities
• Pollution control and abatement
• Capitalization of revolving loan funds, including funds that will make loans for start-ups and working capital
• Distance adult learning for job training and advancement
• Rural transportation improvement
• Community economic development
• Technology-based economic development
• Feasibility studies and business plans
• Leadership and entrepreneur training
• Rural business incubators
• Long-term business strategic planning

Opportunity grants can be used for:

• Community economic development
• Technology-based economic development
• Feasibility studies and business plans
• Leadership and entrepreneur training
• Rural business incubators
• Long-term business strategic planning

Education Project Grant funding is available to support projects that further the educational goals of The CIRI Foundation. These include but are not limited to the promotion of quality learning and educational experiences for Alaska Native people as outlined:

• Promote quality of learning and educational experiences for Alaska Natives from the early learning years through adulthood, recognizing the importance of lifelong learning.
• Examine educational issues and opportunities and to identify possible solutions to eliminate those factors that hinder successful achievement by Alaska Natives in their educational pursuits.
• Foster educational enrichment programs that improve the quality of life for Alaska Natives.

TourWest is a competitive grant program, supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, that provides subsidies to arts and community organizations for the presentation of touring performers and literary artists within the 13-state WESTAF region. The WESTAF region includes the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawai’i, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and Pacific jurisdictions (American Samoa, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam). Applications are reviewed by a panel of industry leaders on artistic and cultural merit, presentation of programs to underserved and/or culturally diverse audiences, quality of the outreach activities, engagement and collaboration (including block booking), and thoroughness of the project’s planning.

For the 2023 cycle, WESTAF will be providing support for the administration of an organization’s regional touring program. WESTAF defines regional touring as programming that presents out-of-state touring artists and/or in-state touring artists traveling at least 50 miles to your venue. WESTAF also encourages the inclusion of community/educational outreach as part of an organization’s presentation of touring artists. This programming can be virtual and/or in-person in accordance with state guidelines.

For the 2023 program cycle, applicants may apply for one TourWest grant up to $5,000 or 50% of the overall programming expenses, whichever is less. Support is available for use by organizations for their regional touring program budgets for any of the following:

• Artist/contractor fees
• Administration costs
• Programming/marketing costs

Program Requirements

TourWest 2023- 2024 support is available to organizations that meet the following programmatic requirements:

• Support applies to activities between September 1, 2023 and August 31, 2024.
• Applicants may submit one application.
• Applicants are required to apply for grants that support the presentation of out-of-state touring performers, musicians, and literary artists as part of administering the organization’s regional touring programming. As described above, regional touring is defined as at least 50 miles from the performance venue. Applicants are encouraged to feature performers from the western United States; however, the performers do not have to be from WESTAF’s region and can be internationally based.
• TourWest funds can be used to support performances in festivals. The festival organization itself, not individual presenters participating in the festival, may apply.
• TourWest funds are federal funds and require a one-to-one cash match. As the grant award will support a portion of regional touring program expenses, the remaining program expense amount is to be paid by the grantee and is considered the cash match for the grant.
  • Grantees cannot match Arts Endowment funds to other Arts Endowment grants funds or other federal funds, nor get two different federal grants for the same program costs (overlapping costs).
  • Grantees cannot match resources with another Arts Endowment award or other federal program.
  • Certain contributions or gifts provided to your organization are restricted and cannot be used to support the program.
  • Gifts (bequeathed or otherwise) that are not available to your organization during the award period of performance cannot be used to match the Arts Endowment award.
• TourWest funds cannot be used in any portion for institutional overhead or F&A costs or applied to any indirect costs. These funds, which are made possible through the National Endowment for the Arts regional touring program, are to be specifically directed to regional touring programming.